Tobias Tissen — pastor at the Restoration Church of God near Sarto, Man., in rural Hanover Township — and Patrick Allard, an opponent of COVID-19 restrictions who is running in a primary for the provincial seat of Fort Whyte earlier this year, he was among five people who admitted to violating limits on outdoor public gatherings in 2020 and 2021. On Wednesday, District Court Judge Victoria Cornick sentenced Tissen and Allard — along with Todd McDougall, Sharon Vickner and Gerald Bohemier — based on a statement of facts agreed to by their lawyers. The Crown is seeking fines of between $18,000 and $42,000 each, depending on the number of each person’s offences, plus court costs and surcharges. The Crown says the five not only repeatedly breached health orders, but organized events where they encouraged others to do so. Allard and McDougall said they plan to appeal to a higher court, where they hope to challenge the public health orders under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Defense lawyer Alex Steigerwald, who is representing four of the five, said the fines the Crown is proposing would be unduly harsh and overwhelming. He asked the judge to reprimand him, which would not carry a fine. If there are going to be fines, he said, they shouldn’t be high. “They weren’t breaking windows. They weren’t rioting in the streets,” Steigerwald told the court. “My clients stood up and protested for something they believed in.”
